Insider deal banker jailed for 40 months
FORMER Dresdner Kleinwort banker Christian Littlewood has been jailed for a record three years and four months for his part in an insider dealing ring that lasted almost a decade.
Littlewood and his wife, Angie Lew, admitted being involved in a massive operation that illegally traded more than £2m through an intermediary, Helmy Omar Sa’aid.
Lew, a Singapore national, escaped with a 12 month suspended sentence for her role in the operation. Sa’aid, also from Singapore, was jailed for two years and was deported to his home nation where he will serve the rest of his term. He was the first person to be extradited, from French Mayotte, as part of a UK insider dealing case.
The sentences mark the end of a massive operation by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), which has invested thousands of man hours and hundreds of thousands of pounds in the investigation.
Margaret Cole, managing director of enforcement and financial crime at the FSA, said: “This was a case of systematic abuse by an approved person of their privileged position in the market – we are determined to stamp out such abuse.
“The guilty pleas and sentencing of the Littlewoods and Sa’aid shows that we can, and will, uncover insider dealing, even across borders, and that the people who commit these market offences will not go unpunished.”
Simon Morris of law firm CMS Cameron McKenna said: “These characters were real City players rather than misbehaving private investors and have received real jail sentences.
“This outcome is a signal achievement for the FSA and a proper warning to all securities professionals. It shows that the FSA will doggedly pursue suspicions of insider dealing right through to securing criminal convictions before a court rather than taking the easier route of fining for market abuse.”